JPH0782229B2 - Color electronic plate making system - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a color electronic plate making system for printing plate making,
In particular, the present invention relates to a color electronic plate making system capable of performing layout processing or editing processing of data of characters, figures and images.

(Background of the Invention) In recent years, an electronic plate making system in which a computer is combined with various processing devices and input / output terminals for printing plate making has been used.

Such an electronic plate-making system performs layout processing of characters and figures, image editing, plate collection, etc., and outputs a printing plate to a printer. An example of such a system is shown in FIG. In the figure, 1 is a bus to which various processors are connected, 2 is a character input processor to which externally created characters and image data are supplied, 3 is a layout processor for performing layout processing, and 4 is for editing image data. An image editing processor, 5 is a plate-collecting processor that creates data for final output based on data that has undergone layout processing and editing, and 6 is a memory processor that stores various data.
A printer 7 prints out data for final output to create a printing plate.

Characters or images created externally are read into the system as character data and image data by the input processor 2, the character data is supplied to the layout processor 3, and the image data is supplied to the image editing processor.
The image data is edited by the image editing processor and then supplied to the layout processor 3. In the layout processor 3, in addition to layout processing of characters and image data, drawing is performed using a keyboard and a digitizer (not shown). The data for which the layout processing has been completed is supplied as typesetting information to the typesetting processor, and data for final output is created. This final output data is output from the printer 7 to create a printing plate.

Next, the drawing operation of the editing work in the layout processor will be described with reference to FIG. When drawing, first
A command for designating a desired figure such as “circle”, “ellipse”, “triangle”, “quadrangle”, ... Is input from the keyboard (step). Here, the explanation will be continued assuming that a “circle” is shown. Next, the operation procedure of what parameters (“center and radius”, “diameter”, “three points”, ...) For drawing the instructed figure is instructed from the keyboard (step). Here, it is assumed that "center and radius" is designated. Then, the parameters, in this case the position of the center and the value of the radius are designated from a digitizer or the like (step). With such an operation, a circle can be drawn, and when drawing a circle again, the process is repeated.

FIG. 10 illustrates another drawing operation. The steps 1 to 3 are the same, but after the process parameters are instructed, the process parameters are returned to again. By doing so, it is possible to save the trouble when performing the same procedure. In this case, when selecting a different procedure or command, "end" is input (step).

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In general, the same procedure may be repeatedly executed many times during editing work such as image editing, layout processing, and drawing.
In such a case, according to the operation shown in FIG. 6, there is a problem that the same instruction is repeated and the operation becomes complicated.
Further, according to the operation shown in FIG. 7, the same procedure can be continuously executed only by inputting a parameter, but in order to select a different procedure or command, an input operation for "end" is required, which is complicated. There is a problem that becomes.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to realize a color electronic platemaking system in which an operation is extremely simple during continuous execution during editing work or when selecting another work. .

(Means for Solving Problems) According to the present invention for solving the above problems, command input means for selecting any one of a plurality of different processing operations of processing or creating data of characters, figures and images. A procedure input means for selecting a work procedure most frequently used for the processing work selected by the command input means, and a parameter input means for inputting a parameter according to the work procedure selected by the procedure input means; And a processing work executing means for executing the processing work selected by the command input means according to the work procedure selected by the procedure input means using the parameters input by the parameter input means. Until a new processing operation is selected or a new operation procedure is input by the procedure input means. When a new processing work is selected by the command output means, the new processing work is started.

(Operation) When a command and a procedure are selected, the process is repeatedly executed according to the parameter input in the same command and the procedure until the other command or the procedure is selected, and the same editing work is continuously executed. If another command or procedure is selected, the editing operation depends on the newly selected command or procedure.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 10 is a layout / image editing station having a plurality of processors for drawing, layout and image editing, 11 is an input processor to which externally created character or graphic data is input, and 12 is drawing and layout Layout processor for editing, changing and typesetting, 13
Is a digitizer for giving a drawing instruction to the layout processor 12, 14 is a keyboard for giving an instruction to the layout processor 12 during drawing or layout processing, 15 is a CRT for displaying the status of drawing or layout processing, 16 is an image editing function having an image editing function A processor, 17 is a digitizer which gives an instruction to the image editing processor 16, 18 is a keyboard which gives an instruction to the image editing processor 16, 19 is a CRT which displays an image at the time of image editing, and 20 is a data based on the instruction of the image editing processor 16. An image data processing processor 21 for processing, a compression / expansion processor 21 for compressing or expanding compressed data when transmitting data, and a bus 22 for connecting each of the above processors and performing data transmission. The processors 11 to 21 are connected to the bus 22 for exchanging data very frequently during layout or image editing.
The processor means a device having a CPU, and the same applies hereinafter. 23 is a font station that generates character fonts, 24 is a font processor that generates and transfers character fonts at the request of other stations, 25 is a font generator that creates fonts based on the instructions of the font processor, and 26 is a font as a vector. A stored memory, 27 is a bus line for connecting the above 24 to 26 and exchanging data. Font processor 24, font generator 25, font memory 26
Since data is frequently exchanged between the two, they are connected by the bus 27. 28 is a plate-collection station having a plurality of processors for plate-collection, 29 is a plate-collection arithmetic processor that creates character data for final output based on the composition information created by the layout station, and 30 is compression that expands and compresses data The decompression processor, 31 is a bus connecting the above 29 and 30. 32 is a scanner station for image input,
33 is a scanner processor for inputting an image from the outside by a scanner, 34 is a scanner connected to the scanner processor 33, 35 is a compression / expansion processor for compressing and expanding data, and 36 is a bus connecting the above 33 and 35. . 37 is a printer station for creating data to be output to a printer, 38 is a printer processor for creating printer output data, 39 is a printer connected to the printer processor 38, 40 is a dot pattern based on a command from the printer processor 38 A halftone dot generation processor that creates output data, 41 is a compression / expansion processor that performs compression / expansion of data,
A bus 42 connects the above 38 to 41. Since data is frequently exchanged between the printer processor 38 and the halftone dot generation processor 40, they are connected by a bus 42. 43
Numerals 48 to 48 are bus connecting means which are provided between the buses of the respective stations in order to connect the processors in which data exchange is relatively rare and which become conductive only when data exchange is performed. 49 is a shared file station for managing data of the entire system, 50 is a shared file processor for managing data, 51 is a shared memory, 52 is a fixed disk for backup, 53 is a bus connecting the above 50 and 51 Is. The shared memory 51 and shared file processor
Since data is frequently exchanged between 50, they are connected by a bus 53.

The operation will be described below with reference to FIG. The character data is created by an external word processor or the like, and the graphic data is created by an external drawing machine and read from the input processor 11. This character data is supplied to the layout processor 12 via the bus 22. As character information, character code, character size, transformation information, typeface code, set condition,
Color, blank information, etc. are required, but those not included in the externally created character information can be specified from the keyboard 14 connected to the layout processor 12. Further, the layout station 12 has a digitizer and can perform drawing and create graphic data. Since the data handled by this layout station 12 is vector information, it is converted to a raster and the CRT15
To display. While looking at the screen displayed on this CRT 15,
Edit, change, and typeset the layout of characters, figures, and images. When these operations are completed, it is transferred to the shared file station 49 as typesetting information and stored in the shared memory 51 or the fixed disk 52. At this time, bus connection means
43 is in a data passing state, and the layout processor 12 and the shared file processor 50 transfer data at a high speed in a state equivalent to being connected by a single bus. When the transfer of the data between the layout processor 12 and the shared file station 49 is completed, the bus connecting means becomes non-passage state, the bus 22 and the bus 53 become independent, and each bus can be used independently for exchanging data. Fixed disk
By connecting 52 to the bus 53 via the memory 51, the memory functions as a buffer even during times when the disk head moves between tracks and cannot be input / output, so the connection time can be used effectively for the bus. Further, the input / output amount can be averaged.

The scanner 34 reads a color original image and supplies it as image data to the scanner processor. This image data is stored in the shared memory 51 or supplied to the image editing processor 16 as 8-bit data for each color. The image editing processor 16 converts image data or graphic data, which is supplied from the scanner processor or read from the shared memory 51, into a video signal and displays the video signal on the CRT 60, and the image data according to an instruction from the keyboard 18 and the digitizer 17. Or change the gradation of graphic data, brushing, image sharpening, gradation, color correction, mask creation,
Edit processing such as composition, rotation, reduction, and enlargement. When this editing process is completed, the image or graphic data is transferred from the image editing processor 16 to the image data processing processor 17 via the bus 22, and the image processing processor 17 updates the shared memory 51 in the shared file station 49. At this time as well, as in the case described above, the bus connection means 43 is in the passing state, and the image data processor 20 and the shared file station 49
Is a high-speed data transfer in the same state as when connected by a single bus. Once this data exchange is complete,
The bus connecting means is in a non-passage state, the bus 22 and the bus 53 are independent, and each bus can be used for independent data transfer. The compression / expansion processor 21 expands the data when reading the data compressed and stored in the shared memory, and also performs the data compression when storing the data for which layout or editing processing is completed in the shared memory. Is. This data compression reduces the amount of shared memory used and also reduces the time required for data exchange.

When the font processor 24 receives the character code, typeface, size, deformation information, etc. from the layout station 10 or the plate collection station 28, it reads vector information corresponding to the character code from the font memory 26. This vector information is transformed according to the size and size information, and the points,
Obtains corner and non-corner information, and from this information the font generator
25 calculates the outline of the character and also fills the inside. or,
If there is clear information, create a clear mask. The data created in this way is either compressed to the run length, or is transferred as it is to the requested processor by the bit map via the bus connection means.

The plate collection arithmetic processor 29 of the plate collection station 28 reads from the shared memory 51 the typesetting information created by the layout processor 12 and stored in the shared memory 51. Since the character information in the typesetting information is stored as a character code, the typesetting arithmetic processor 29 requests the bit map information of the character from the font processor 24. At this time as well, the bus connection means 45 is in the passing state, and the data processing operation is carried out in the same state as that the plate-collecting arithmetic processor 24 and the font processor 19 are connected by one bus. When this transfer is complete,
The bus connecting means 45 becomes non-passing state, and each bus returns to an independent state. In addition, masking is placed in unnecessary parts of the image data, and the inside of the figure is filled or masked, and the operation of masking the image of the bitmap of the character and the figure is performed, and four colors (Yellow, Magenta, Cyan , Bl
image data, line drawing character graphic data for each color of
Create three types of output data such as valid data. An example of these three types of data is shown in FIGS. 2 (a), 2 (b), and 2 (c), and the combined result is shown in FIG. In this case, the image data of “tree” and the character of “A” are combined. Such a composite image shown in (d) is the image of “tree” shown in (a),
It is divided into the characters shown in (b) and the valid data shown in (c). When this calculation is completed, the data is compressed by the compression / expansion processor, and then transferred to the shared file processor 50 and stored in the shared memory 51. As in the case described above, the bus connection means 46 is in the passing state only during this transfer, and the transfer is performed in the same state as when the bus is connected by one bus, but each bus is independent during the period other than the transfer. , Each station is operating independently.

The printer processor 38 of the printer station 37 reads out the image data for each color, the line drawing character graphic data, and the valid data created by the plate collection station 32 from the shared memory 51 via the bus connection means 48. The halftone dot generation processor 40 converts the 8-bit image data representing the shade of color into a 1-bit halftone dot. In addition, the compressed line drawing, characters, graphic data and effective data are expanded to be bitmap data.
The three pieces of data are combined by the printer processor 38 and output to the printer 39 as data for printer output to form a printing plate, and all processing is completed.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the bus connecting means 43 together with the buses 22 and 53. In the figure, 54 and 59 are bus interfaces that constantly monitor the bus, 55 and 58 are controllers that control the bus interface and buffer memory, and 56 and 57 are buffer memories that temporarily store the data to be transferred. The bus interface 54 and the controller 55 constantly monitor the status of the bus 22,
When there is a communication request to a processor on another bus, the data is received and stored in the buffer memory 56. The buffer memory 56 sends the data to the buffer memory 57, which stores the data. Bus interface 59 and controller 58 that bus 58 is free
Then, the data stored in the buffer memory 57 is transferred to the destination. Although the bus connecting means 43 between the bus 22 and the bus 53 has been described here, the bus connecting means arranged between other buses also have the same configuration and operation.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of tasks when the layout processor 12 draws. In the figure, there are command tasks such as circles, triangles, and squares below the main task.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the main task. The operation of the main task will be described below with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

The main task checks the input from the keyboard or digitizer, and also checks the input of commands, procedures, parameter instructions or cancels. Such operations are performed by interrupting the CPU at regular intervals. If valid input is passed to all command tasks.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of each command task shown in FIG. Each command task is a CPU
It is executed at each interrupt time. At that time, it is checked whether the input status stored by the main task is valid for each command task. If there is a valid input, a table showing the program position of the processing content is drawn according to the input and state, and the program is jumped to. Then, the process is executed and the next state is stored or the state variable of the current task is updated.

FIG. 7 is a state transition diagram showing a specific operation of the circle task that draws a circle among the above command tasks. The command task will be described below taking the case of a circular task as an example.

In the initial state, the circular task waits for a command (state)
It is in. Here, the command means the content of processing work such as what kind of figure such as circle, triangle, square, ... In the case of drawing. Here, if the command "circle" is entered, this command is received,
Move to state. Command =
"Circle" and procedure = "center, radius" are defined. Here, the procedure refers to what kind of parameter a figure is drawn. According to the present invention, when a command is decided, the most frequent procedure for executing the command is automatically selected. Therefore, the input operation becomes easy. Here, if an arbitrary value P1 is input as a parameter, the process proceeds to the central provisional decision (state). If there is a cancel input in the state, the state is returned to. When another procedure is input, the state of that procedure is entered. For example, by assigning each procedure to the function keys F1 to F10 of the keyboard, the input operation becomes easy.

When another command is input, the current command task waits for input (state) and the other command task starts execution. If an arbitrary value P2 is input as a parameter in the state state, the radius is determined, the circle is drawn with the center P1 and the radius P2, and then the state is returned to and the drawing is repeated using the same command and procedure. To do. When the command and procedure are thus specified, the same operation can be repeated without designating the same command or procedure until another command or procedure is selected. When it is desired to execute the command by another command or procedure, the command or procedure can be entered from any state to shift to the desired processing state. Further, the cancel key can be used to return to the previous state from any state.

In general, when drawing, a plurality of figures of the same type are often created on one screen, and by repeating as described above, useless operations such as inputting the same command and the same procedure can be omitted. Moreover, since the most frequent procedure is automatically selected, the number of key inputs can be reduced. Further, when moving to another command or procedure, there is no need to perform an operation for ending the process currently being executed, and the state is entered by directly inputting the key of another command or another procedure. It should be noted that the states ~ states are states when drawing by a different procedure such as drawing a circle with two points and drawing a circle with three points, and the operation is the same as the above state. Further, the same effect can be obtained by performing the same processing for other command tasks.

In the above description, the drawing of the layout processor 12 has been described, but it goes without saying that the same processing as in the above case can be performed in the layout work such as replacement, insertion, copying, and erasing, and the image editing work in the image editing processor 16. Absent.

(Effect of the Invention) As described in detail above, according to the present invention, the current work is repeatedly executed until another work is selected during the work in drawing, layout processing, or editing. It is possible to realize a color electronic platemaking system in which it is extremely easy to perform the same work repeatedly and select another work.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining composition of images, characters, etc., FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining details of bus connecting means, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram for explaining a task, FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining a main mask, FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining a command task, FIG. 7 is a state transition diagram showing a concrete operation of the present invention, FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a conventional plate making system, FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of a conventional drawing process, and FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a conventional drawing process. 10 …… Layout / image editing station 23 …… Font station 28 …… Plate collection station 32 …… Scanner station 37 …… Printer station 49 …… Shared file station

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A command input means for selecting any one of a plurality of different processing operations of processing or creation for character, graphic, and image data, and the most frequently used processing operation for the processing operation selected by the command input means. Using the procedure input means for selecting a high work procedure, the parameter input means for inputting a parameter according to the work procedure selected by the procedure input means, and the parameter input by the parameter input means, the procedure input means And a processing work executing means for executing the processing work selected by the command input means in accordance with the work procedure selected by the command input means, a new processing work is selected by the command input means, or a new processing work is performed by the procedure input means. Various processing procedures are continuously executed until a new work procedure is input, and a new command is input by the command input means. If the management operation is selected, color electronic prepress system, characterized in that to start a new processing task.